Another sign that this judge is refusing to lie down and run a kangaroo trial and may actually give Kopp some justice. It seems hopeful for Kopp. Even if they manage to judge shop--which is what this clearly is, protests to the contrary notwithstanding--it means that Kopp will come before a decent judge, unless they manage to shop him, too.
It may also raise some appeal issues, if that becomes necessary. And I shouldn't think it would endear the prosecutors to this judge.
Judge Arcara has one of the worst track records in the federal judiciary, having sentenced Father Norman Weslin to 6 months in federal prison for saying a rosary on a Buffalo public sidewalk, allegedly in violation of an injunction and, apparently, without much proof that Fr. Weslin knew the latest details of the injunction, having transgressed not the original injunction but a substantially modified version. He has also declared a Scripture-reading free zone on public sidewalks near the mill and jailed Protestant ministers on that one.
What appears to be the case here is that Arcara said he would not accept a plea bargain from the lesser defendants Marra and Malavasi unless he were free to impose maximum sentences. I do suspect, hoewever, that the prosecution may not trust a Buffalo jury to convict any of the defendants and may try to move Kopp's trial to New York City to get a sufficiently biased jury. We shall see. I do not believe that Kopp killed Dr. Slepian. He is not a head case and he is reputedly a turbo Catholic convert who has not even Rescued in many years.